Where The Newspaper Stands

May 29, 2001

Chesapeake Avenue

Calm the two-city neighborhood, don't divide it

Hampton and Newport News share a stretch of Chesapeake Avenue that is beautiful yet anxious. Neighbors in this tree-lined neighborhood of old homes and a gorgeous harbor view are rattled. Some cars roar down the residential streets. Occasional petty thefts from porches and garages disturb the peace.

Hampton and its Wythe neighborhood are responding. In early June, some streets will be fitted with temporary traffic circles, intended to "calm" the motor traffic.

Also, Locust Avenue, a through street that intersects Chesapeake and extends to Kecoughtan Road, will be blocked at Kecoughtan.

Before the decision, the mayors and city managers of Hampton and Newport News met about the neighbors' concerns. Newport News officials are against closing streets that would impede access between the cities. Hampton officials are working with residents on both sides of Pear Avenue, which marks the boundary between the cities. The mission is to calm the neighborhood, not divide it.

During the 30-day test, Hampton officials will study the traffic patterns. Neighbors and officials need facts. Are many cars really cutting through the neighborhood at reckless speeds? Do the barriers make a difference?

The crime issue is harder to measure. The area is not crime-ridden or violent, but thefts from garages and porches occur from time to time. Neighbors say that nearly all of these incidents are committed by people on foot.

A solution would be for neighbors to be more careful instead of paranoid. Place lights in the alleys to discourage easy thefts in the dark. Get involved with the neighborhood watch program. It is active, but it could use more volunteers.

Hampton officials emphasize that the temporary barriers are a test. Good. The experiment should not be a step toward a "gated" neighborhood. Instead, let this test of traffic calming serve as an example of neighbors working together to keep the Chesapeake Avenue community a safe and open area shared by two cities.

Conservation

Preserving is saving, and that's cost effective

Since the first settlers landed at Jamestown almost 400 years ago, there seemed to be so much undeveloped land stretching to the west that few people have been able to conceive of a time when those vast forests could be gone. But it makes sense that the area where the first settlers left their mark would be among the first to recognize the value of preserving some of those undeveloped spaces.

That is true up and down the East Coast, where the development of this country began.

The further west one goes -- with perhaps the exception of the West Coast itself -- the sense of urgency quickly dissipates. People still have difficulty imagining the loss of those wide- open spaces west of the Mississippi River.

But in Virginia, it's very real. That's why four out of five people responding to a recent survey favored putting money aside to protect forests, farms, clean water and open space. And 65 percent favored creating a permanent state fund for land conservation.

One proposal is to dedicate 25 percent of the existing deed-recording tax to land conservation. That would mean that the people buying land -- whether developers purchasing large tracts or families buying a house and lot -- would contribute to the fund. That money would then be used to purchase land that would be set aside as natural areas for the enjoyment and benefit of all Virginians.

Such a fund would amount to approximately $40 million a year. At today's land prices, that wouldn't buy massive acreage, but it would be enough to protect some key areas from the bulldozers.

The recent poll is particularly interesting because it shows a shift in public opinion.

In a similar poll in 1992, 57 percent of voters polled said that the state should not spend money on land while the state faced serious education funding needs. This year, 67 percent said conservation should not be sacrificed because of other needs.

That 20-point swing probably reflects the amount of development and suburbanization of much of Virginia in the past nine years.

Conservation, whether it's land, water or other natural resources, is a difficult concept for many in our throwaway society. That doesn't mean it isn't important.

In fact, that makes it more critical that people who understand the positive side of conservation do more to promote it as a lifestyle and as government policy.